Nicodemus West (Earth-11584)
History "I'm sorry Stephen. I tried to do everything I could. The nerves...they were just too damaged." Dr. Nicodemus West is a neurosurgeon who's based in Metro General Hospital in New York City. Born in California, Dr. West moved to the East Coast when he was a teenager, due to his father being transferred their to teach at the US Naval Academy. Though it was his father's desire for his son to follow him into the navy, Nick felt that medicine was his true calling and decided to enter medical school instead, eventually graduating from Johns Hopkins University with a specialty in neurosurgery. At first Dr. West entered into general practice, preferring to serve as a normal doctor than an ER surgeon. In time however he wanted a challenge and moved to New York City, eventually becoming the on-call neurologist at Metro General Hospital, working with fellow surgeons Dr. Christine Palmer and the esteemed Dr. Stephen Strange. Strange and West had something of a rivalry between the two of them, with West jealous and envious of Strange's accolades, and Strange considering West as little more than "a glorified butcher." Strange relished opportunities to show up Dr. West, proving his intellectual superiority over him. In particular there was one instance where Dr. West had prematurely declared brain death in a gunshot victim, a fact that Strange pointed out as he performed life saving surgery on the patient and proceeded to humiliate Dr. West in front of his colleagues, including Dr. Palmer. A short time later Dr. West oversaw the surgery to repair Strange's body after a near-fatal car wreck, resulting in debilitating nerve damage in Strange's hands. Strange blamed West for the failure to restore the fine motor function in his hands, claiming that West had done so on purpose to ruin his career. However, it seemed that Strange did respect Dr. West as a physician to some extent, as several months later he personally handed the scalpel to him to try and save The Ancient One from dying on the operating table. Though she was beyond saving, Strange later apologized for his earlier behavior to Dr. West, thanking him for what he had tried to do for him. Powers & Abilities * Neurosurgeon: Dr. West is an accomplished brain surgeon, serving as the main on-call neurosurgeon for Metro General Hospital's Emergency Room (though Dr. Strange also served in this capacity, he was mostly a specialist who dealt in private appointments). In this capacity he had a high degree of knowledge in both surgical techniques, specializing in highly sensitive brain surgery in particular. Weaknesses Dr. West had a tendency to see things simply for what they were, prematurely calling brain death on a patient that could have been (and was, thanks to Strange) saved. As skilled as he was, he was not as skilled a surgeon as Dr. Strange was, prior to his accident. Strange himself lamented this fact, saying that he could have done a better job healing the nerves in his injured hands (though this was likely out of anger and spite more than anything.) Dr. West also possesses no special abilities that would protect him from harm. Film Details Dr. West appears in the following films within the Earth-11584 continuity. In all cases he is portrayed by actor Anthony Michael Hall. * Doctor Strange (2016) Category:Earth-11584 Category:Earth-11584 Characters Category:Neutral Characters